Glenfall House

Glenfall House is a house dating to circa 1770, substantially rebuilt between 1799 and 1808 in a "cottage ornee" style for Charles Higgs. It was extended circa 1830-40 for Lieutenant General John Molyneaux, and further remodelled and extended circa 1923 by Sydney Barnsley for Arthur Mitchell (of Mitchell and Butler's Breweries of Birmingham), with work executed by Peter Waals. The house is rendered over brick, with ashlar dressings to the garden facade, and has a concealed slate roof. It features three stacks with cornices.

The entrance front is two storeys high with eight first-floor windows. A two-window range on the left breaks forward, featuring Doric pilasters to the angles and a pediment; a first-floor band is also present. The first floor has six 8/8 sash windows and one 2/2 sash, while the right-end window is blind. The ground floor has an off-centre right entrance within a 1920s doorcase—the door is of six panels, flanked by two 4/4 sashes, with a projecting hood on acanthus brackets and an acanthus modillion frieze. The remaining ground-floor windows comprise mainly 8/8 and 6/6 sashes, a 10/10 sash, and a tripartite 6/6 sash set between two 2/2 sashes; the right-end window is blind.

The garden (south) facade is two storeys high with six first-floor windows. A ground-floor projection features a central canted bay surmounted by a balustrade with small, bulbous balusters. The first floor has Doric pilasters between windows, a frieze, and a cornice, with a blocking course above. Three 6/6 sashes are present, with the remainder being French windows. The east return includes a 19th-century bow window to the first floor, with casement windows curved on plan, alongside two full-height bows with mock sashes and pilasters between windows that flank a three-window centre.

The interior includes a Colebrookdale tile floor to the hallway. The library is oak-panelled with built-in bookcases, while the ballroom has a sprung floor and a pair of short scagliola pillars with Ionic capitals, brought from North Africa to Leylam Abbey. A 19th-century carved white marble fireplace is found in the drawing room (now a chapel), with pine fireplaces dating to circa 1920s elsewhere. A significant amount of furniture was made by Peter Waals, with some pieces now in Cheltenham Museum. The top storey was removed after the house was sold in 1965.

Originally named "Gutterfall," the name was changed to "Glenfall" by 1817. The property was mortgaged by the Higgs family and later purchased in 1819 by Edward Iggulden of Deal, who improved the grounds. Following his death, ownership passed to his daughter, Mary, and her husband, Lieutenant General John Molyneaux, who extended the house and built Glenfall Lodge. An engraving of the original cottage ornee is featured in Griffiths' 1826 New Historical Description of Cheltenham.